Box Score AIKEN, SC – Junior center
Hannah DeGraffinreed scored the game's final five points to lead
USC Aiken to a 66-64 come-from-behind upset of 25th-ranked Francis
Marion University, Wednesday evening (Dec. 1) in Peach Belt
Conference women's basketball action.
Francis Marion, which led by as
many as 15 points in the first half and 10 in the second stanza,
drops to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the PBC. USCA improves to 7-2
and 1-0 and hands head coach Mike Brandt his 400th career
win.
Freshman Brittany
Christian scored a career-high 17 points as did senior Shannon
Singleton-Bates to lead FMU. Christian hit 5-of-9 three
point attempts. Senior Robin Colbert and
sophomore Courtney Mealing
each added 10 points.
Deandra Schirmer led USCA with
15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. The
Lady Pacers outrebounded Francis Marion 45-31.
Prior to the final minute,
USCA's only lead of the contest came at 4-2. The Patriots
quickly responded with a 13-1 run that produced a 15-5 lead.
Christian scored 11 of FMU's opening 22 points as the margin grew
to 22-10.
The lead would swell to 15
points on three occasions – the final time at 35-20 following
a Hannah
Jones lay-up with 4:30 left in the half. However, the
Lady Pacers scored nine of the half's final 11 points to close to
within 37-29 at intermission.
A Kayla Harris basket brought
USCA to within 46-42 at the 13:52 mark, but Francis Marion answered
with a 9-3 spurt – capped by a Mealing three-pointer –
that gave the Patriots a 55-45 advantage.
With 7:56 remaining, a jump shot
by Mealing produced a 61-54 FMU lead. The Patriots would then
miss six of their final seven field goal attempts while committing
six turnovers and allowing the Lady Pacers to rally.
Triahna Harris tied the game at
61-61 on a free throw with 3:23 left. Singleton-Bates put the
Patriots back ahead on a three-point play with 1:13 on the
clock. DeGraffinreed converted a pair of lay-ups to give USCA
a 65-64 advantage. Following an FMU turnover, she upped the
lead to 66-64 with a free throw with seven ticks left.
Following an FMU timeout,
Singleton-Bates then dribbled the ball up the court, but was unable
to get off a potential game-tying shot before the horn
sounded.
Francs Marion will play a
neutral site game against Shaw University on Saturday at 2 p.m. in
Savannah, Ga.
12-01-10 5:30 PM at
Aiken, SC (Convocation Center)
USC AIKEN 66, #25 FRANCIS MARION
64
#25
FRANCIS MARION (#25 3-1 , 0-1)
Christian, Brittany 6-10
0-0 17; Singleton-Bates, Sha 6-16 5-5 17; Colbert,
Robin 5-10 0-0 10;
Mealing, Courtney 4-15 0-0 10; Bothof, Kendra 1-2 2-2
4;
Belcher, T.T. 1-3 0-0 2;
Jones, Hannah 1-1 0-0 2; Downs, Danelle 0-0 2-2 2;
Mann, Monica 0-1 0-1 0.
Totals 24-58 9-10 64.
USC
AIKEN (7-2, 1-0 PBC)
Schirmer, Deandra 7-8 1-3
15; Tarailo, Daniela 6-11 0-0 14; Harris, Kayla
3-8
3-4 9; DeGraffinreed, Hann. 2-2 1-2 5; Moody, Tiffani 2-5 0-0
5;
Antoine, Mia 1-3 2-2 4;
Martin, Porsha 2-3 0-2 4; Harris, Triahna 1-7 2-4
4;
Pinkney, Nakia 1-9 1-2 3;
Sundberg, Lindsay 1-3 0-0 3; Bowen, Brittany 0-1
0-0
0. Totals 26-60 10-19 66.
Halftime: Francis
Marion 37 USCA 29.
3-point goals--Francis
Marion 7-20 (Christian, Brittany 5-9; Mealing,
Courtney 2-8; Mann,
Monica 0-1; Singleton-Bates, Sha 0-2), USC Aiken
4-6
(Tarailo, Daniela 2-3;
Moody, Tiffani 1-1; Sundberg, Lindsay 1-2). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None,
USC Aiken-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 31
(Singleton-Bates, Sha 4;
Colbert, Robin 4; Downs, Danelle 4), USC Aiken 45
(Schirmer, Deandra 7;
Moody, Tiffani 7). Assists--Francis Marion 13
(Mealing, Courtney 6),
USC Aiken 17 (Harris, Kayla 6). Total
fouls--Francis
Marion 20, USC Aiken 14.
Technical fouls--None. A-1187
